


Grand Slam™️

by foolmetaling



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Aged up characters, College AU, Humor, M/M, Modern AU, Oh that good edling stuff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-04-29 10:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14470533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foolmetaling/pseuds/foolmetaling
Summary: Ling didn't expect to meet the waiter of his dreams at 1:30am in a Denny's.





	1. Grand Slam

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr. based on my late night shit food experiences where I too have eaten my feelings away.

Waking into Denny’s alone at 1:30am, not drunk or high, means leaving all shame behind the dirty double doors. Nothing else can really be more humiliating.

At least Ling tells himself that as he trudges in, hungry and ready to eat himself into submission.

Upon entering Ling is greeted with the expected; a packed diner with the local young folk sobering up after a wild night out. It’s loud, rowdy, and the Denny’s is poorly understaffed, workers covered in grease and sweat from busting their asses.

What he doesn’t expect is to see a man who somehow was able to make dirty and tired look good. The shitty fluorescents and stained uniform don’t do him justice, but aren’t enough to block the rays of light that seem to be emitting from his very being. Ling is enamored by his golden hair and eyes, and the way he moves confidently across the room.

He’s so absorbed in his own reverie that he doesn’t notice the young god stalk across from the next table to stand in front of his.

“Welcome to Denny’s. If you don’t order within the next 10 seconds I’m moving to the next table”.

“Build Your Own Grand Slam, 2 scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, stack of pancakes with no whipped cream”.

Ed, finally identified by his nametag, was shocked at Ling’s rapid response.

“No hesitation, I like that. But only pussies get pancakes without whipped cream”.

“Fine, give me as much whipped cream as I can get”.

“Better choice”.

With a smirk, the golden waiter swiftly picked up Ling’s menu and dashed to the next table. Ling felt absolutely flustered, by how attractive and commanding Ed was, and undeniably annoyed that he gave in so easily when he absolutely hates whipped cream.

Ling makes it his mission to unabashedly stare at Ed, much to the other’s bewilderment. Ling figures hey, he’s alone at a Denny’s in the early hours of the morning, about to eat a meal that could easily feed two, he’s really got no dignity to lose. And Ed’s attempt to stop him with glares that could probably intimidate most gave Ling a challenge he couldn’t refuse.

After an agonizing 40 minutes of stares and glares, Ed finally returns to Ling’s table with his Grand Slam, covered in an obscene amount of whipped cream.

“I hope this is enough whipped cream to last you a fucking lifetime”.

“You’ve really got some amazing eyes”. 

Ling’s has never seen his impulsive tendencies reach such a low point. Ling has also never seen a man reach the same shade as a tomato, but in this Denny’s seems like anything was possible. 

“Oh…. uh… ok”.

Ling couldn’t help but laugh as Ed walked away, and laughing even harder when Ed attempted to give him the nastiest look on his way out. 

Now that he’s thoroughly embarrassed himself and the lovely waiter, Ling thinks it’s finally time to eat his life away, and is so engrossed in this task he fails to notice Ed quietly slip the check onto the table. 

  

Ling only realizes he missed another encounter when it was too late, and decides not to mourn over his loss but take advantage of this eventful night. With that, Ling left a 300 dollar tip on the table, his number on the receipt, and a piece of his soul at the table as he glanced one final time at Ed before exiting into the night.

—–

(4:35am) Text from 8495049304: if you think i’ll fuck you just because you tip well, you’re absolutely right


	2. CVS ExtraCare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed gets too engrossed with texting his mystery 'Denny's boy' to function at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CVS's real rewards system is actually called ExtraCare // Ed doesn't only work at Denny's

(09:15am) Text from 4850693856: No dinner first? How rude. 

‘I’m a fucking idiot’ isn’t a rare first thought that Ed wakes up to, but hell if it didn’t suck every time. 

Still, an actual rarity was waking up to a text from a cute boy he served the night before not immediately dismissing his crude attempt at an advance. 

(11:04am) Text to 4850693856: no name? how rude 

The solemn tap of rain again his window, and the accompanying creak of his leg due to the humidity, reminds Ed that he really hates Mondays. Mondays meant 12 hour day shifts which meant he couldn’t visit his brother, another thing to add to his never-ending “things I hate” list. 

Deciding that he’s stalled long enough, Ed finally gets out of bed to eat some cereal; Ed will argue to the sun and back that yes, he’s a grown ass 21 year old that has every right to start his day right with some good old Frosted Flakes. Post breakfast classic ‘sniff-and-go’ always got his back as Ed throws on a red t-shirt and black jeans, laying around since god knows when, and puts on his black boots before heading out to his car. 

Driving always gives Ed time to mindlessly think about all the shit that he doesn’t want to think too hard about during the day. But today he couldn’t help but keep drifting back to the boy, maybe man, from last night, and his long black hair neatly tucked into a bun. Man buns usually pissed Ed off, but on mystery boy it looked pretty damn good, if he had to admit. 

‘Fuck I can’t get attached this quickly that’s lame as hell’ Ed muses as he parks. 

‘Well… off to Hell #2 for 12 hours’ is the last thought Ed has before walking into CVS. 

\----  
(1:00pm) Text from 4850693856: Hey, a certain element of ambiguity is my forte. It doesn’t seem to be yours though Ed.

‘Wait fuck how does he know my name god dammit he’s already got leverage’. Ed frowns into his phone, leaning a bit lower to hid the small tint of embarrassment that threatens to color his whole face. 

(1:03pm) Text to ‘that cute guy from last night’: wait how the fuck do you know my name? 

Ed’s really given up on managing the store front at this point, being way too heavily invested in his conversation with the cute guy he barely knew. But honestly, fuck his managers because if working the night shift at Denny’s wasn’t shitty enough the day shift at CVS was like hell on earth. Ed couldn’t remember the amount of times he had to redirect customers from the card to the snack aisle because said manager is too lazy to update the aisle signs. So yea, screw her; if she can be lazy so can Ed.

(2:32pm) Text from ‘that cute guy from last night’: You were wearing a name tag last night, idiot. 

“Oh true” Ed exclaims out loud, prompting some weird looks from the lady shopping in the hair care isle. Ed gives her a side eye right back. 

(2:35pm) Text to ‘that cute guy from last night’: for real though, whats your name 

“Excuse me sir, I’d like to check out”. 

“Oh, sorry about that ma’am. Did you find everything to be ok today?”. Ed manages to muster a semi-decent smile at the same lady who gave him an ugly look just a few minutes before. 

“Other than that dirty look you gave me earlier, everything went well”, she utters while smiling at Ed innocently. 

“Fair enough. Do you have a CVS ExtraCare card?”

“No, and I won’t be purchasing one from you today”, she says with that fake decency she served her earlier smile with. 

“Here’s your change and I hope you have an absolutely mediocre day!”. Ed gives her a sickly smile right back as the customer, now internally referred to as ‘that bitch’, walks out into the rain. 

‘Today’s gonna be a long ass day, huh?’ 

\------  
(5:01pm) Text from ‘that cute guy from last night’: My name’s Ling. Nice to formally meet you Ed :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Local cryptid writes another short, unsatisfying chapter for what was supposed to be a oneshot.
> 
> But seriously, thanks so much for all of the positive comments on the last chapter, y’all really motivated me to continue my story! (More into on Al coming soon hehe)


	3. Gmail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ling and Lan Fan attempt, and fail, to study in the library when a certain email ruins Ling's day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daddy Issues Ling is the only modern AU Ling I accept.

(5:04pm) Text from ‘Denny’s Ed’: ling huh? that’s kinda a fancy name 

“Hey Lan Fan, do you think my name sounds fancy”?

“Absolutely not”. 

Lan Fan doesn’t even look up from her book as Ling gives her an exasperated stare. The library has never felt colder. 

“As my best friend for life you’re required to gas me up, how could you betray me like this”?

“As your best friend for life I need to call out your bullshit, now stop yapping so I can finish my reading. I actually read for class unlike you”. 

Ling rolls his eyes as Lan Fan finally looks up to brutally scold him. If he has to admit, she’s pretty good at making him feel useless but also loved. Having known each her since they were two, she’s managed to never give up on Ling and his shenanigans, so hell if she’s not the world’s best best friend. 

“Hey! I read sometimes. You know what they say, ‘work smart not hard’”. 

“Don’t kid yourself you do neither”. 

“Love you too Lan Fan”! 

Remembering the point of his fake bicker with Lan Fan, Ling pulls out his phone. 

(5:15pm) Text to “Denny’s Ed’: It’s honestly a pretty typical name, but thanks I feel fancy now. 

Ling couldn’t help but smile into his phone as he sent that text. He originally wasn’t expecting much of a conversation from Ed but he’s been surprisingly mistaken. Ling didn’t know he was into snarky, unpunctuated texters but he’s decided to ignore bad grammar just this once. 

“Stop thinking so loud I can hear it over my scapegoat theory assignment”. 

‘Oh my god’ Ling thought as he looks up. 

“Lannn Fannnn how the hell can you HEAR me thinking”?!

“Just can. Now who’s that boy you’ve been texting in between classes”? 

“Ok how do you know that it’s a boy. It could be anyone”. 

(5:20pm) Text from ‘Denny’s Ed’: idk ive never heard that name around these parts before so, yea fancy stuff 

Lan Fan looks up from her textbook to give Ling yet another all-knowing look. Ling’s got his hair back in a bun, his favorite pair of “athleisure”, his ultimate aesthetic or so he says, sweatpants and his favorite t-shirt. An outfit this good? Definitely a boy. 

(5:23pm) Text to ‘Denny’s Ed’: Ah, that’s because I’m from Hong Kong! I just moved here to study at university. 

“You should see your expression. Who is he”, Lan Fan says with a slight smirk. 

(5:24pm) Text from ‘Denny’s Ed’: oh shit really? that’s fucking cool dude how long youve been here? 

Ling lets out a sigh. 

“This cute waiter I met at Denny’s yesterday when I stress ate. I left my number and he actually texted back”. 

Lan Fan grunts in appreciation. Ling decides to let her unenthusiastic response to his confession go, and continues scrolling on his phone. Lan Fan instead continues to watch him, foregoing her reading for just a bit. 

(5:27pm) Text to ‘Denny’s Ed’: For almost 3 years. I’m in the middle of my junior year. 

‘Man I’m getting kind of old’ he thinks after sending the text. ‘It hasn’t felt that long but I’m almost done what the hell’.

Ling pushes the thought away as he checks his emails when his expression drastically changes. He starts to front a nasty glare, mouth contracting to a tight line. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Lan Fan, as she reaches out to put a hand on his arm. 

“Hey I saw that, what’s up” she asks, voice laced with concern. 

“My father sent me an email about going back to Hong Kong for winter break. What kind of father emails his son instead of calling”? 

Lan Fan closes her book, checking to see past Ling’s facial expression. Since they were kids she’s known about the practically nonexistent relationship between Ling and his father. She’s really only seen him once, at Ling’s high school graduation, as he barely even glanced as his son as he spoke to the principle of the elite international school he enrolled Ling into. Hell, Ling was only at this top university to appease his father’s wishes. Lan Fan simply followed because that’s what best friends for life do. 

“The kind of father that makes you compete against your siblings for a chance to inherit his cheese”, Lan Fan concludes. 

“The kind of father that only speaks to you when it’s absolutely necessary”, Ling reciprocates. 

“You’re the poster child for daddy issues”. 

“Ok Lan Fan I’m going to pretend you never said that”. 

\---  
(10:14pm): Text from ‘Denny’s Ed’: damn i kinda wish i was in school and not in this fucking dennys rn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Edling Week! First day is modern au so here we are~ I’ll hopefully be updating a whopping 3 TIMES this week so stay tuned! I know everyone is thirsty for that edling fluff but the plot’s gotta come first. Excited to be introducing more characters and really hashing out the main story :) 
> 
> Comments and kudos are super welcome, and if you’re feeling ambitious message me on tumblr I love to gush about this AU.


	4. Stress Breakfast for Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Ling meet at Denny's once again, as Ling attempts to eat his sadness away while Ed tries to keep himself together around Ling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stress eating is an awful way to cope with issues but goddamn it’s so hard NOT to = Ling’s biggest mood (and honestly also mine).
> 
> Heads up, this chapter has perspective changes!

(11:20pm) Text from ‘that cute guy from last night’: School is just as shitty as Denny’s, just differently. 

‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean,’ Ed thinks as he takes a stealthy look at his phone.

Monday night Denny’s is the worst Denny’s; the adult bowling club across the street always comes in trashed at 11pm, way too early to be acceptably wasted, and basically orders the whole fucking restaurant and doesn’t even tip heavily. 

“Assholes,” Ed mutters to himself as they finally make their exit.

‘Those bastards, who the fuck even bowls?’ Ed thinks as he clears their absolutely filthy table. They can’t even manage to be decent about how they eat, even though they always know Ed is the only server/busboy/literal employee on Monday nights. 

To be fair, his day started off poorly. After that lady was rude to him at CVS, the manager finally made him reorganize the aisles to fit the sign titles, and Ed abhorrently regrets ever being pissed about it being wrong. He also ended up getting caught in traffic on his way to Denny’s, resulting in no dinner.

He’s really had the shittiest day, and the fact that his shift doesn’t end until 4am isn’t making it any better. 

Ed doesn’t believe in god but holy hell maybe he’ll start, because Ling enters his Denny’s exactly then, looking just as good as he did the night before. Maybe a little more rugged, since it looks like he hasn’t shaved, but damn that man bun is really getting to Ed. 

‘Ok fuck, he’s hot,’ Ed begrudgingly admits. 

Ling doesn’t seem to notice him though as he walks in, head a bit downcast while trudging up to the seating counter. Looking a bit closer, Ed notices that Ling looks exhausted, his white shirt crumpled and eyes unfocused. 

Ed quickly, but suavely, he hopes, makes his way to the counter to greet Ling, making sure to smooth a hair or two that have fallen from his braid. 

“Well look who it is,” Ed announces as he picks up a menu. Ling finally snaps out of his reverie and immediately brightens up as he makes eye contact with Ed. 

“Do they not have any other employees here? I’d like a nicer one thank you very much,” Ling says with a slight smile on his face. 

“I’d have you know that I’m the best damn employee this Denny’s got. And no actually, management doesn’t give a fuck about my body so they let me do all the work alone”. 

This gets Ling to chuckle a bit and Ed can physically see some of the weight being lifted off of the young boy’s shoulders across from him. 

“Alright fine you’ll do for today,” Ling adds with a wink. 

‘Ok shit he’s really fucking hot,’ Ed thinks as he feels his face heat up. He hasn’t gotten this riled up about anyone in so long that he’s surprised to find himself blushing over one dumb wink. 

“Right this way valued customer”! 

Ed attempts to recollect himself as he leads Ling to an empty table. Just as they arrive he quickly puts down a menu and rushes to finish cleaning the aforementioned bowling table. He can’t have Ling catching him blushing up a storm. Where was his dignity? His punk aesthetic? Punks don’t blush; according to Ed it ‘distracts from the angst’. 

‘Shit ok I gotta keep it cool, gotta impress him he’s too cute to lose,’ Ed chants as he walks back to Ling’s table after a few minutes. Deciding to keep it casual, Ed puts his hands down on the table and leans forward a bit, getting Ling’s attention. 

“Sup”? 

“Most waiters come up with a ‘Hi, are you ready to order?’ but ‘sup’ will do,” Ling adds with a chuckle. 

“Hey, granted I’m not most waiters. But anyways, back to business. Want another Grand Slam, extra whip?” Ed asks as he pulls out his pen and paper. 

“Make it french toast and please, no whipped cream this time”. 

“Huh, that’s boring as fuck but sure, whatever you want man,” Ed grunts out as he writes down the order. 

“I’m actually lactose intolerant but I couldn’t lose to your challenge last night. My pride was on the line so I suffered this morning for 2 solid hours thanks to that damned whipped cream,” Ling explains while grimacing at the recollection. 

It takes Ed a solid few seconds to really process Ling’s comment before laughing the hardest he has in days. 

“Hey man, my suffering is not funny!” Ling pouts as Ed can’t seem to get himself together. 

“Dude what the hell, that’s so fucking funny I-” Ed struggles to finish his sentence as another fit of laughter erupts. 

“Ok ok fine, it’s funny. But I’m having a rough night so don’t laugh too much ok?”. 

Ed stops and glances up to meet Ling’s gaze. Ed can tell that Ling’s partly joking, but something about his expression reveals a bit more. 

“Yea I could kind of tell you were up in shit’s creek. You looked like a wreck when you walked in”. 

Ling rolls his eyes at that comment. “Thanks for reminding me, asshole”. 

“Alright who fucked you this hard?” Ed asks, maybe a bit too seriously. 

“My dad. He’s a proper asshole. Who emails his son instead of calling, or hell, texting,” Ling exclaims while raising his hands up in frustration. “Like, I get one email a year, what even is that”? 

“Oh that’s a big fucking mood. I haven’t spoken to my dad in years so, I get it”. 

This grabs Ling’s attention back to Ed, his face twisting to a more serious expression. 

“Oh really? Hey man that … really blows I’m sorry. I really feel you on that front”. Ling’s expression softens as he says this, eyes looking to Ed in mutual understanding. 

Just then another group of teenagers walks in, prompting Ed to massively groan at his predicament. How dare they enter just as he gets some real info out of his cute boy. 

“As much as I love talking about our daddy issues I’ve got your order to put in and customers to bitch at”. 

“Oh hell not you too!” Ling yells. “That’s the second time today someone’s told me I’ve got daddy issues”. 

“Hey man embrace it!” Ed yells back as he runs over to the front counter. 

\--  
‘Damn it he’s cute’.

Ling can’t help watching Ed as he takes care of the rowdy teens that came in. Ling’s main motivation for coming back to Denny’s definitely was Ed; if he’s going to stress eat anyways might as well try and see his cute waiter again. He was hoping that Ed would be working tonight, and thankfully the universe delivered on at least one good thing today. 

Ling keeps drifting back to Ed as he cleans and basically runs the restaurant on his own. Every time Ed looks up and catches Ling staring he seems all flustered and looks away, which only adds to Ling’s amusement. It’s a stark change from last night’s death glare match, but he honestly can’t complain. He likes knowing that after only one day he’s got some type of power over the waiter. 

Just as the night before, a solid 30 to 40 minutes pass until Ling receives his food. He’s so starved at this point that he barely notices Ed put down the plate as he starts to stuff himself. 

“Jeez not even a thank you I see how it is,” is Ed’s snarky greeting as Ling barely looks up from his food. 

“Fjdkthank yousdf” is the half assed reply Ling manages to get out, mouth full of french toast. 

Ling still barely registers Ed’s laugh as he leaves the table, instead focusing on how fucking good breakfast food tastes at 12am. Ling’s always stress ate but there definitely is a hierarchy of ‘I Hate Myself’ meals; Ling ranks breakfast as his top choice, ramen following with a close second and chicken being his solid third choice. 

Ling thinks he forgot to breathe as he finishes his last bite of hash browns a startling 8 minutes after his plate was first set down. After taking a massive swig of his water, Ling looks up to realize that Ed is staring at him with his mouth ajar. 

“What did I do?” Ling innocently asks while pointing to himself. 

“Dude what the hell I literally left you less than 10 minutes ago and you’ve cleaned your plate. How did you stuff yourself like that?”.

“Years of practice my friend”.

Ed gives him an incredulous look. He seems kind of impressed, or at least Ling would like to think so. 

“Alright, I guess that’s the best answer I’ll get haha. I’ll be back with the check in 5”! 

Ed’s already running to the back when Ling decides he doesn’t need a check, leaves another 300 dollars on the table with a note, and walks out into the chilly night.  
\--  
[You can only keep the change if you keep texting me ;) xoxo - Ling] 

“Holy fuck!”  
\--  
(3:45am) Text to “daddy issues ling”: i guess school can be real shitty too. cheer up man  
(3:45am) Text to “daddy issues ling”: also, youre fucking incredible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I’d write 2 more chapters for Edling week but I feel into a large rut and decided to take a break instead. But I’m back and out here with another chapter that has practically doubled the length of this entire fic :) 
> 
> I also want to clarify that yes, only 1 full day has passed since Ed and Ling first met at Denny’s. The pace from now on will shift a bit so that the story moves along more quickly so their relationship can really develop (when I tagged slow burn I meant it!!!). 
> 
> Comments / kudos / tumblr asks always appreciated (I know I’m slow with responses on here but I’m trying to get back to everyone :’) ).

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr (@foolmetaling) for some good edling content!


End file.
